Browse the First Congregational Church records in West Stockbridge, Massachusetts

Beginning in 1768 the western portion of the town of Stockbridge, also known as Queensboro, began to petition for separation and incorporation as a new town. This was accomplished on February 23, 1774 with the incorporation of the town of West Stockbridge. In 1779 the town voted to build a meeting house but disagreements over the location of the building prevented its construction until 1786 when a decision was finally made. The first meeting house was not completed until 1793 or 1794 though the first sermon for the First Congregational Church was preached in 1789.

By the 1830s the population center for the town of West Stockbridge had moved from the “Centre” to the “Village”. Subsequently, the Village Congregational Church was established in 1833.  The first church building for the Village Church was constructed in 1843. That church building was destroyed by fire in 1881. The second church building was dedicated in February of the following year. The building was designed by Pittsfield architect Charles T. Rathbun using the then-fashionable Stick style. The church building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1996.

The first meeting house of the First Congregational Church, then also known as the West Centre Church, was destroyed in 1956 after lightning struck the building. Following the destruction of the building, members of the West Centre Church elected to build an open-air chapel in its place; the chapel was dedicated on October 6, 1957. In 1962 the West Center Church and Village Congregational Church formally merged to form the Congregational Church of West Stockbridge. In 1961 the two churches voted to join the United Church of Christ. Beginning in 1963 the Congregational Church of West Stockbridge has shared a pastor with the Canaan Congregational Church. The West Stockbridge Congregational Church continues to serve the local community today with services held variably at the West Stockbridge Congregational Church, the outdoor chapel in West Stockbridge, and the Canaan Congregational Church.

Materials in this collection have been digitized in partnership with the New England Historic Genealogical Society and have been made available through our New England's Hidden Histories project.